Tafsir of At-Tawbah 9:38

{اثاقلتم} (Athāqaltum): This is a contraction of tathāqaltum (you became sluggish). Al-A‘mash recited it this way. It means you became slow and hesitant. The meaning of "inclination" and "clinging" is implied, hence it is connected with the particle ilā (to). The meaning is: You inclined toward the world and its desires, and you disliked the hardships and troubles of travel. Similar to this is: “But he clung to the earth and followed his own desire” (Al-A‘rāf: 176). It is also said: You inclined toward staying in your lands and homes.

It is also recited as Athāqaltum? (Did you become sluggish?) as an interrogative, implying rebuke and censure. If you ask: "What is the governing agent (ʿāmil) for idhā (when), given that the interrogative particle prevents it from governing?" I say: It is what is indicated by his words “Athāqaltum” or the verbal meaning contained in “mā lakum” (what is the matter with you). It is as if it were said: "What will you do when it is said to you..." just as you would say in the present tense: "What is the matter with you while standing?"

This occurred during the expedition of Tabuk in the tenth year, after their return from Ta'if. They were called to mobilize during a time of hardship, intense heat, and drought, with the distance being great and the enemy numerous, so it was difficult for them. It is said that the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) never went on an expedition without concealing its destination with another, except for the expedition of Tabuk, so that the people could prepare fully.

{من الآخرة} (min al-ākhirah): Meaning, in exchange for the Hereafter, like his saying: “We would have made from among you angels” (Az-Zukhruf: 60).

{في الآخرة} (fī al-ākhirah): In comparison to the Hereafter.

{إلا تنفروا} (illā tanfirū): There is a great threat against those who are sluggish, as He threatens them with a painful punishment—a general punishment that encompasses the torment of both worlds—and that He will destroy them and replace them with another people who are better and more obedient, and that He is independent of them in the support of His religion; their sluggishness does not diminish anything. It is said: The pronoun refers to the Messenger, meaning: "You will not harm him," because Allah promised to protect him from the people and to support him, and the promise of Allah will inevitably come to pass. It is said that by “a people other than you” (At-Tawbah: 39), He means the people of Yemen. Others say the Persians. The apparent meaning is independent of such specification.

If you ask: "How can his saying ‘Allah has already supported him’ be the answer to the conditional clause?" I say: There are two aspects:

1. "If you do not support him, He will support him," just as He supported him when he had no one with him but one man, or even less than one. Thus, by saying “Allah has already supported him,” He indicates that He will support him in the future, just as He supported him at that time.
2. That He decreed support for him and made him supported at that time, so he will never be abandoned thereafter.

The act of "driving out" is attributed to the disbelievers, just as it is attributed to them in His saying: “from your town which drove you out,” because when they intended to drive him out, Allah permitted him to leave, so it is as if they had driven him out.

{ثاني اثنين} (thāniya ithnayn): One of two, like his saying “the third of three.” They were the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and Abu Bakr as-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him). It is narrated that when Gabriel (peace be upon him) commanded him to leave, he asked: "Who will go with me?" He replied: "Abu Bakr." It is in the accusative case as a state (ḥāl). It is also recited as thāni ithnayn with a sukūn.

{إذ هما} (idh humā): This is a substitute (badal) for idh akhrajahu (when he drove him out). The cave was a hole at the top of Thawr, a mountain to the right of Mecca, an hour's journey away. They stayed there for three days.

{إذ يقول} (idh yaqūl): A second substitute. It is said that the polytheists appeared above the cave, and Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) feared for the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and said: "If they strike today, the religion of Allah will be gone." The Prophet (ﷺ) said: "What is your thought about two, of whom Allah is the third?"

It is said that when they entered the cave, Allah sent two pigeons that laid eggs at its entrance, and a spider spun its web over it. The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "O Allah, blind their sight." They kept pacing around the cave without noticing it, for Allah had taken their sight away from it. They said: Whoever denies the companionship of Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) has disbelieved, because he denies the speech of Allah, and this does not apply to the rest of the Companions.

{سكينته} (sakīnatahu): The tranquility He cast into his heart, through which he found peace and knew they would not reach him.

{جنوداً} (junūdan): The angels on the day of Badr, the Confederates (Al-Aḥzāb), and Hunayn.

{كلمة الذين كفروا} (kalimat alladhīna kafarū): Their call to disbelief.

{وكلمة الله} (wa kalimatullāh): His call to Islam. It is also recited as kalimatullāhi in the accusative, but the nominative is more eloquent.

{هي} (hiya): A separator or a subject, emphasizing the superiority of the Word of Allah in loftiness, and that it is exclusive to Him, unlike all other words.

{خفافاً وثقالاً} (khifāfan wa thiqālan): Light in mobilizing due to your eagerness, and heavy due to the hardship it causes you. Or, light because you have few dependents and burdens, and heavy because you have many. Or, light in terms of weaponry, and heavy in terms of it. Or, riders and foot soldiers. Or, young and old. Or, thin and fat. Or, healthy and sick.

It is narrated that Ibn Umm Maktum said to the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ): "Must I mobilize?" He said: "Yes," until the verse was revealed: “There is no blame upon the blind...” (An-Nūr: 61). Ibn Abbas said it was abrogated by: “There is no blame on the weak nor on the sick...” (At-Tawbah: 91).

Safwan ibn Amr said: "I was the governor of Homs, and I met an old man from Damascus whose eyebrows had fallen over his eyes, riding his mount, intending to go to battle. I said: 'O uncle, Allah has excused you.' He raised his eyebrows and said: 'O son of my brother, Allah has called us to mobilize, light and heavy; but whomsoever Allah loves, He tests.'"

Az-Zuhri said: "Sa'id ibn al-Musayyib went out to battle, though he had lost one of his eyes. It was said to him: 'You are ill and disabled.' He replied: 'Allah has called us to mobilize, the light and the heavy. If I cannot fight, I will increase the numbers and guard the supplies.'"

{وجاهدوا بأموالكم وأنفسكم} (wa jāhidū bi-amwālikum wa anfusikum): An obligation to perform Jihad with both, if possible, or with one of them according to the situation and necessity.